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The word “Lent” actually literally means Springtime, the perfect season for renewal! Here’s Sister Mary’s mid-week pick-me-up for the “mini-retreat” that will refresh your soul throughout Lent. Here’s a list of all of the weeks’ posts.

By Sister Mary Core, OSB

Imagine yourself flying through the air on a trapeze bar. Another bar swings forward. You grab it, but don’t let go of the original bar now behind you. You freeze mid-point, neither moving forward nor backward.

In a word, you’re stuck.

I love this image when considering this week’s message: “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not. See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

In other words, let go to move forward.

I remember a poster from several years ago that said, “Not to decide, is to decide!” It is certainly true.

God offers us a path forward, but leaves the decision in our hands. We have free will. What will we do with it?

Yes, it seems that God is inviting us to reach forward, to risk, to trust, to believe, to be courageous, and to grab hold of that “something new” held in store for us.

In God’s own words, it will spring forth. If we are vigilant, we will perceive it!

Back to the trapeze image: you reach for the next bar, let go of the original bar and fall, remember God is your safety net! God doesn’t expect us to get it right the first or even every time. You’re in good hands!

Questions for reflection…
1. What are some new things springing forth in you? What are you are perceiving?
2. Have there been times when you had one hand in the past and one in the future, unable to let go of either?
3. Can you identify what keeps you from risking? Trusting? Believing?
4. What images work for as you hear God’s voice say, “Let go of the past. Reach out and grasp your future!”

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One thought on “Letting Go to Move Forward”

Thanks so much for writing these lessons and posting them. I started out sharing them with my daughter. I printed them out each week and left one on my desk at work. Now I am sharing them with co-workers as well as my daughter. Sending you love and blessings and thanks for teaching us!